Toilet tissue roll holder



' Nov. 25, 1958 s. SARRO TOILET TISSUE ROLL HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April 25, 1956 INVENTOR. SARRO HTTDRNE'Y Nov. 25, 1958 s. SARRQTOILET TISSUE ROLL HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 25. 1956INVENTOR.

SARRO United States Patent TOILET TISSUE ROLL HOLDER Silvio Sarro, NewYork, N. Y. Application April 25, 1956, Serial No. 580,594 N I 2 Claims.01. 242-553 This invention relates to holders for rolls of toilettissue, and more particularly has reference to a holder adapted toprovide, upon a single support, means for carrying a pair of rolls,either of which can berotated independently of the other, thus toeliminate the need for frequent replacement of rolls for the purpose ofmaintaining an adequate supply of available'tissue.

Summarized briefly, the invention comprises a support formed from asingle length of flat bar material folded upon itself in such a manneras to provide a mounting bracket, an elongated support arm, and a sleevereceiving the midlength portion of a roll support shaft the oppositeends of which carry the rolls in sideb'yside relation. The shaft isformed from a single piece of rod material, having radial fingers at itsends providing stops engaging the rolls against movement in an axialdirection off the rod. Thebracket-forming arm, extending; between therolls, provides an abutment common to both rolls, limiting the sameagainst axial movement in an opposite directionj The rnain object of thepresent invention is to provide, in a single device adapted forsupporting a pair of rolls of tissue, a particularly inexpensiveconstruction whereby the device can be made quite cheaply, particularlyfor use in commercial establishments where a large number of the rollholders is needed.

, A more specific object of the invention is to soy form the device thatthe single length of bar material can be readily shaped to provide therequisite strength for resisting bending of the same.

Another object is to form the device in such a manner that the r'oll-support shaft or rod, and the associated support arm, can be swiftlyand easily assembled with one another.

Yet another object, in a second form of the invention,

is to permit manufacture of the device at low cost, not exceeding thatrequired for the first form of the invention, while providing aparticularly elfective means for facilitating the replacement ofexhausted rolls with new ones.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a roll holder according to the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1, a supported roll beingshown fragmentarily, in dotted outline.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a modifiedconstruction.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the modified constructionin open position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in Figs. 1 and 2 the deviceincludes a support arm formed from a single length of flat bar materialshaped medially between its ends with a transversely extending,horizontal sleeve 12. The length of material is folded upon itself, withthe sleeve being disposed at the transverse bend line of said length,and located inwardly from the sleeve is a ninety degree, axial twist ofthe support arm designated at 14.

The folding of the length of material in the manner described provides,between the twist 14 and sleeve 12, outer armportions 16, 18 disposed inhorizontal planes, in ,face-to-face contact with one another. Betweenthe twist and the wall-attached end of the support arm, said armportions merge into inner arm portions 20, 22 respectively, also inface-to-face contact. These in turn merge, at the ends of the length ofmaterial, into oppositely, outwardly projecting ears 24, 26,respectively having apertures 28, 30 adapted to receive screws 32 orequivalent fastening elements whereby the device is attachedto the wallW.

Extending through the, sleeve is a roll support shaft 34, formed from alength of rod material and having at its ends integral, radiallyextending stop fingers 36 adapted to engage the outer ends of rolls Rsupported upon. the end portions of the, shaft 34.

In use of the device, a roll may be positioned on either end portion bytilting the same so that itscardboard core C is out of' axial alignmentwith the body portion of the shaft 34. This permits the core to fit overthe adjacent finger 36, and when the. core has been shifted inwardlypast the finger, the roll will be loosely supported for free rotationupon rod'34. In these circumstances, the fingers 36 will provideabutments holding the rolls against axial movement oif'the rod 34;

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the single, lengthof bar material forming the support arrn,10 is shaped to include. asleeve 12 defined by bending said length intermediate its ends in thesame manner as in the first form of the invention. The sleeve mergesinto outer end portions 16%, 18 disposed in face-to-face contact withone another in horizontal planes and these in turn merge into ninetydegree twist portions l4 which then merge into elongated inner armportions 20%, 22 disposed in faceto-face contact in sideby-side verticalplanes.

The inner arm portion 22 at the end thereof remote from the twistedportions, is bent to merge into an'ear 26 and said ear is folded uponitself with one of the fold portions of the car being extended to form asecond ear 24 Screw receiving openings 28*, 30 are formed in the ears 2426 respectively for attaching the device to the wall W.

The inner arm portion 20*, at the end thereof adjacent car 24, isrounded, and adjacent the rounded extremity of arm portion 20 saidportion is formed with an outwardly projecting handle 38.

The material of which the support arm 10 is formed is resilient, and asa result, the integrally connected portions 16*, 20 constituting one armsection the other of which is constituted by the portions 18 22 can beswung upwardly as shown in Fig. 4 against the restraint of the springtension inherent in the sleeve 12 This is done by grasping the handle 38and exerting upward pressure thereagainst.

As a result, the sleeve 12 is opened, and the roll support shaft 34having at its ends radial extensions 36*, is freed for removal from thesleeve.

The sleeve 12 normally grips the roll support shaft 34 and prevents itfrom turning.

The adaptability of the device for quick removal and insertion of a rollsupport shaft 34 is designed to perrnit interchange of various rollsupport shafts, which may differ in length from each other. For example,one roll support shaft may be designed to hold even more than two rolls,and a longer shaft of this type can be assembled with a support bracketthat is also adapted to support shorter shafts. In other words themanufacture is simplified considerably, in that a single form 'ofsupport bracket can hold any of various support shafts differing fromone another in length or type. Further, even after the support bracketis mounted upon the wall W, one shaft can be removed and another shaftof different type or length can be swiftly substituted therefor. Forexample, the sleeve 12 could be enlarged, to receive a tubular rollersupport shaft having removable plugs in its ends, and such a shaft canbe readily substituted for the rod type shaft shown in the severalfigures of the drawing.

In both forms of the invention, of course, the construction is veryinexpensive, permitting the device to be made from two pieces ofmaterial, one a length of bar material and the other a length of rodmaterial, both of which are readily obtainable at a minimum of cost.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes andmodifications may be made within the scope. of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent 1. A toilet tissue roll holdercomprising a support arm formed from a single length of bar materialfolded on itself intermediate its ends and including a sleeve at thelocation at which the length is folded, said length of material at oneend thereof being integrally formed with ears projecting laterallyoutwardly of the arm in opposite directions and apertured to receivefastening elements for attaching the arm to a support surface, and aroll support shaft extending intermediate its ends through the sleeve,thus to rotatably support a pair of rolls upon the shaft at oppositesides of the arm, said arm providing a stop extending between and commonto both rolls for limiting movement of the rolls axially of the shafttoward each other, the shaft being formed at its ends with radial stopfingers limiting movement of the rolls axially of the shaft in adirection away from each other, the fold providing a pair of outercontacting arm portions and a pair of inner arm portions integral withthe outer arm portions and merging into said ears, said arm portionsbeing axially twisted intermediate their ends through ninety degrees,the outer arm portions normally lying in horizontal planes and the innerarm portions normally being disposed in vertical planes, said earsnormally being disposed in a common vertical plane perpendicular to thevertical planes of the inner arm portions.

2. A toilet issue roll holder comprising a support arm formed from asingle length of bar material folded on itself intermediate its ends andincluding a sleeve at the location at which the length is folded, saidlength of material at one end thereof being integrally formed with earsprojecting laterally outwardly of the arm in opposite directions andapertured to receive fastening elements for attaching the arm to asupport surface, and a roll support shaft extending intermediate itsends through the sleeve, thus to rotatably support a pair of rolls uponthe shaft at opposite sides of the arm, said arm providing a stopextending between and common to both rolls for limiting movement of therolls axially of the shaft toward each other, the shaft being formed atits ends with radial stop fingers limiting movement of the rolls axiallyof the shaft in a direction away from each other, the fold providing apair of outer contacting arm portions and a pair of inner arm portionsrespectively integral with the outer arm portions, one of the inner armportions merging into said ears and the other inner arm portion beingfree of connection to and terminating adjacent the ears, said length ofmaterial having an inherent springiness, for swinging the disconnectedinner arm portion and outer arm portion connected thereto away from theother inner arm portion and connected outer arm portion about an axisdefined by said sleve, to open the sleeve for insertion and removal ofthe shaft, said disconnected inner arm portion having a laterallyoutwardly projecting handle adjacent the free end thereof, the sectionsbeing axially twisted intermediate their ends through ninety degrees,the outer arm portions of the arm lying in face-to-face contact in thehorizontal planes constituting a stop limiting swinging movement of saidother arm portion in a sleeve-closing direction beyond a position inwhich said arm portions are in face-to-face contact wit one another. l 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,662,140 Whitesides Mar. 13, 1928 2,485,838 Nicol Oct. 25, 1949 FOREIGNPATENTS 609,552 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1948

